Canterbury-Bankstown, one of Sydney’s largest councils, voted on Tuesday evening to keep smart glasses out of its public pools, the latest Australian local government to act against covert filming in places where people expect privacy.

Mayor Bilal El-Hayek told the chamber that residents have raised fears about people filming in change rooms, pools and near schools, calling the devices “pervert glasses”. He pointed to the frames’ high-resolution cameras and AI features such as live translation, object recognition and face scanning.

Brisbane became the first council in the country to announce such a ban, applying it across 21 public pools. Yarra in inner Melbourne followed last week, extending its version to leisure and aquatic centres, childcare centres and playgrounds, and asking the federal government for stronger privacy law. Randwick council, in Sydney’s east, has taken the same step at its Des Renford leisure centre, where fresh signage warns that anyone arriving in smart glasses will be asked to take them off or leave.

Digital Rights Watch policy head Tom Sulston praised the votes and said state and federal governments should follow the councils. The bans exempt people with accessibility needs, including vision impairment. Federal attorney general Michelle Rowland has not ruled out a national ban and wrote to the privacy commissioner in August asking for priority consideration of the issue.

Source: The Guardian